Last Updated on February 15, 2024.
The 13 Colonies were colonies in North America under the rule of Britain. These colonies later made up the United States of America.
In North America, the English colonies were found between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian Mountains.
This lesson is provided by Onsego GED Prep.
Video Transcription
France had some colonies more to the north, while Spain had some colonies in the southern portions. The thirteen (13) American colonies can be divided into three parts (regions) if we do so by geography and climate: the Southern Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and New England.
In New England, the land was shaped by earlier glaciers and during the world’s Ice Age, when thick and massive sheets of ice cut had through the area’s mountains.
Glaciers had pushed the rich soil and rocks south. What was left was a thin layer of rocky dirt, and crops wouldn’t grow well on this sandy, rocky soil. Hills and forests made the region hard to farm.
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In New England, summers were hot while winters were cold and long. The area’s growing season was merely some five months long, so the New England colonists were using some other natural resources for making a living.
They set out to cut down the region’s trees and forests to make boats and buildings, and they started to catch whales and fish for food and several other products.
In the Ice Age, the glaciers had pushed New England’s soil into the region of England’s Middle Colonies. This soil was deep and rich, and it was excellent for farming purposes. Here, the growing season was much longer than in the New England area.
Here, there was much more sun and lots of rainfall. The colonists were using riverboats on the region’s wide, long rivers such as Delaware and the Hudson. The colonists were selling their crops in the nearby towns and hunted beaver and deer for fur and food.
Of all the British areas, the Southern Colonies came with a fine climate and the best land for their farming purposes. Here, the climate was hot practically year-round, the area’s soil was very rich, and the growing season was lasting for seven months or even longer.
There were many waterways all along the southern coastline, and these together formed a tidewater region.
The Ocean tides were making rivers fall and rise to some 150 miles up the shore. The Tidewater region’s fall line stretched along the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Up here, rivers started to flow from higher grounds to lower-laying lands.
Most colonists were settling in the backcountry, the land in the back of the area. Here, the land was covered with many forests and steep. The farms were relatively small, and the colonists were hunting for and fishing for food.